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Ticks, Game Time and Income
Time runs at a different pace in the virtual environment of StarCraft II from that of the real world. At 'normal' game speed, 1 second in-game is not same duration as 1 second as timed by a watch. Hereafter, whenever the temporal dimension is mentioned, it refers to game time unless otherwise specified. The exact ratio of game time to real time is of little importance, as the game time is more than sufficient for strategic planning. In game, there are 2 different units of time: game time and mineral ticks. Game time is identical to real world time, except it runs at a different rate. It serves no other purpose than to keep track of time during a replay. A mineral tick is the interval between successive mineral intakes. Game Time No explanation is needed for the concept of game time itself, but some clarification is necessary regarding spawn ticks and cool down timer. A spawn tick is the 1 count of the spawn timer, which always starts at 45 and counts down to 0. When it reaches 0, it immediately resets to 45 for the next spawn and spawn the current wave. A spawn tick is of the same duration as 1 second of game time. Cool down timers are in sync with game time as well. Mineral Ticks and Income 1 mineral tick is longer than 1 second game time. In fact, 1 mineral tick = 1.25 seconds. Conversely, 1 second = 0.8 ticks. With 0 gas, the default mineral intake per tick is 10, which rises by 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 respectively with each additional gas. The mineral intake is summarised as follows: let N = the number of gas, mineral intake = 10 + (1 + N)*N. So 1st gas = 12, 2nd gas = 16, 3rd gas = 22, 4th gas = 30, 5th gas = 40, 6th gas = 52. Each time a gas is constructed, all income for that player freezes. Nominally the freeze durations are 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 seconds for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th gas respectively. However, the actual durations are 2 seconds less than the nominal length for unknown reasons. So they should be 28, 58, 88, 118, 148 and 178 seconds. Another phenomenon associated with building a gas is the gas cool down. The player must wait 210 seconds before he (assuming no female players) can lay down another gas. Mineral intake only starts 15 seconds into the game. At 20 seconds, each player is granted a one-off burst of income of 340 minerals in addition to regular mineral intakes. Maximum Wealth An Epic game has 81 spawns, with the 81st spawn being for Sudden Death. There is a 45-second waiting period before each spawn, so the total game length is 81*45 = 3645 seconds. The maximum wealth attainable in this period can be derived with the information contained in this article. Assume no spending except to gas. Time Ticks Gas Income Intake Spending Wealth 15 0 0 On 10 0 0 20 4 0 On 10 -350 390 72 46 1 Off 0 800 6 100 68 1 On 12 0 6 282 214 2 Off 0 800 953 340 260 2 On 16 0 953 492 382 3 Off 0 800 2099 580 452 3 On 22 0 2099 1845 1464 4 Off 0 800 23563 1963 1558 4 On 30 0 23563 2055 1632 5 Off 0 800 24971 2203 1750 5 On 40 0 24971 2265 1800 6 Off 0 800 26155 2443 1942 6 On 52 0 26155 3645 2904 6 On 52 2 76156 The end game army worth is calculated to be 76156 minerals. The last 2 ticks in the game are ineffectual because buildings take about 2 seconds to construct. This is of course assuming that the player does not skip mineral ticks when gassing. Due to the mismatch between a continuous game time and discrete mineral ticks, it is possible for the player to narrowly miss out on 1 tick before income freeze and 1 tick after income freeze. This is avoidable if the player times it perfectly. Incidentally, with the above knowledge we can work out the income loss from pre-gas rushing. Let N be the number of ticks delayed before 1st gas. The income loss = N*22. For example, rushing a pair of Zealot for 280 minerals delays 1st gas by 28 seconds, so N = 28. The income loss = 28*22 = 616. Category:General Knowledge